50-Year-Old Skateboarding Legend Hits 65 MPH as He Flies Down 22-Story Building

Staff
By Staff
3 Min Read

WEBVTT

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:0

00:00.159 –> 00:04.150

Sandro Diaz is a 50-year-old Brazilian

skateboarding legend.

00:04.480 –> 00:07.119

He’s a six-time world champion.

00:07.679 –> 00:13.750

Well, he recently made history once again when

he dropped in from the curved facade of a

00:13.750 –> 00:16.030

22-story building in Brazil.

00:16.239 –> 00:22.690

Until now, the Centro Administrativo Fernando

Ferrari or CAF building in Porto Alegre,

00:23.110 –> 00:26.319

stood about 88.91 m high.

00:26.639 –> 00:31.770

It had been a white whale in the skateboarding

community, which dubbed the unique structure

00:31.989 –> 00:34.139

the ultimate skate ramp.

00:34.459 –> 00:38.700

Diaz himself had dreamed of riding CAF for some

13 years.

00:38.950 –> 00:43.509

After a month of planning and another 30 days

or so of transforming the facade by laying

00:43.509 –> 00:49.779

about 800 plywood panels over the concrete

exterior, Diaz’s dream came true.

00:49.990 –> 00:53.062

The stunt

dubbed the Red Bull Building Drop was

00:53.062 –> 00:59.891

incredible, with Diaz hitting 64 MPH after

starting from nearly 70 m high.

01:00.181 –> 01:01.731

With a 60 m drop.

01:01.942 –> 01:08.772

Diaz experienced a peak force of about 3.9 Gs,

the equivalent of supporting nearly

01:08.772 –> 01:13.781

four times his own body weight.

Diaz started at 55 m high and worked his way up

01:13.781 –> 01:16.533

the ramp gradually.

With successful attempts at 60,

01:16.653 –> 01:22.283

65, and 70 m respectively, the team had to lay

plywood down because although the building

01:22.283 –> 01:25.643

looked fit to ride, the exterior was weathered

and cracked,

01:25.874 –> 01:30.564

not the ideal surface to skate down at nearly

65 MPH.

01:30.814 –> 01:36.884

The efforts included 115 metric tons of ramp

materials, which will now be repurposed.

01:37.094 –> 01:41.356

The metal scrap will be recycled.

And the 800 sheets of plywood will be donated

01:41.356 –> 01:45.045

and used as biomass.

Guinness World Records representatives were on

01:45.045 –> 01:50.536

hand to certify a pair of records: the tallest

drop into a temporary quarter pipe,

01:50.545 –> 01:54.515

and the fastest speed on a temporary quarter

pipe.

01:55.085 –> 01:58.835

Still, it wouldn’t have been possible without

some incredible engineering.

01:59.045 –> 02:04.316

Oh, and crash pillows, safety gear, and a

lifetime of training.

02:04.685 –> 02:07.236

I’m David Manti.

This is Manufacturing Now.

 

Share This Article
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *